Server device, method for controlling the same, computer-readable recording medium and game system

ABSTRACT

A social game capable of informing a player of the attractiveness of a group fighting event is disclosed herein. A server device comprises: an information storage unit that stores information on the game; and a control unit that executes an arithmetic operation relating to the game and performs processing to display an image of the game at the terminal devices. The information storage unit stores, as a part of the information on the game, information on a fighting event, and the control unit performs processing to, in accordance with an instruction from a player, display the information on the fighting event at a terminal device operated by the player.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/425,161, filed May 29, 2019, entitled “SERVER DEVICE, METHOD FORCONTROLLING THE SAME, COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM AND GAMESYSTEM,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/183,820, filed Nov. 8, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,343,066, issuedJul. 9, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/844,891, filed Dec. 18, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,159,898,issued Dec. 25, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/329,185, filed Jul. 11, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,873,047,issued Jan. 23, 2018, which claims priority benefit of Japanese PatentApplication No. 2013-147093, filed Jul. 12, 2013, and Japanese PatentApplication No. 2014-040076, filed Mar. 3, 2014, the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

Disclosed herein are a server device, a method for controlling the same,a computer-readable recording medium, and a game system.

Recently games that are provided from a server device via acommunication network to mobile terminals that players are operatinghave become a hit, and a lot of game titles have been released from aplurality of platforms. There are a wide variety of types and categoriesof these games, among which social games allowing a plurality of playersto participate in the same game are particularly enjoying a boom. Such asocial game can be said to use a community-forming network servicecalled a social networking service (SNS).

A known social game utilizing the features of a SNS is configured to,for example, let characters (player characters) manipulated by aplurality of players attack one or a plurality of enemy characters todevelop a fighting event such as a battle (combat). In this case, eachplayer can be a member of a specific group such as a guild, a party, ateam or a community, which will be described later. Each player beats anenemy character, whereby various rewards such as a point or an item thatcan be used in the game can be given not only the individual players butalso to groups to which the players belong.

Such a fighting event to beat an enemy character by a plurality ofplayer characters is conventionally called a “raid battle” in the fieldof social games. Alternatively, this may be called a “GvR” where a groupor a guild is represented with its first letter (G) and an enemycharacter in a raid battle as a raid character is represented with itsfirst letter (R) (v denotes versus, the same applies in the following).

Another social game that is widely known offers an individual fightingevent that is a one on one fighting of player characters and a groupfighting event that is a battle between groups (including not onlybattles but also competitions such as a team sport). As one example ofthe latter, JP2013-66524A describes an online game to develop a groupfighting event (battle) between a plurality of parties. In this game,when matching of a plurality of parties, to which player charactersbelong, is established in a coliseum hall as a predetermined virtualspace in the game, such a group fighting event (battle) between theparties is performed. Such a direct fighting between groups isconventionally called a “guild battle” in the field of social games, ormay be called “GvG” represented with the first letters (G) of the groupor the guild as stated above.

SUMMARY

In the case of the aforementioned social game, a player is not allowedto watch a fighting event executed by another player. This means that aplayer cannot experience how enjoyable the fighting event is beforehe/she actually participates in the fighting event, and so there is nodiversity to enjoy the game, and the player cannot be informed of theattractiveness of a group fighting event.

In order to participate in a group fighting event, a player has tobelong to any group as a precondition. To this end, some of this type ofgames makes a player participate in any group compulsorily at thebeginning. Such a precondition cannot be avoided because the gameincludes a group fighting event. However, some players who do not wantto be bound by ties of a group may be forced to participate in a groupunwillingly, and so they may leave the group before knowing theattractiveness of the group fighting event or may be away from games insome cases. This fails in letting the player know the attractiveness ofthe group fighting event and may fail in activating a social game.

In view of such a circumstance, an embodiment of the invention providesa server device, a method for controlling the server device, acomputer-readable recording medium, and a game system, which are capableof letting a player know the attractiveness of a group fighting event.

To solve the aforementioned problems, a server device according to theinvention disclosed herein provides a game, in which a plurality ofplayers can participate, and that is connected to terminal devicesoperated by the players via a communication line. The server devicecomprises: an information storage unit that stores information on thegame; and a control unit that accesses the information to execute anarithmetic operation relating to the game and perform processing todisplay an image of the game at the terminal devices. The informationstorage unit stores, as a part of the information on the game,information on a fighting event, and the control unit performsprocessing to, in accordance with an instruction from a player, displaythe information on the fighting event at a terminal device operated bythe player.

A method for controlling a server device according to the inventiondisclosed herein is to control a server device that provides a game, inwhich a plurality of players can participate, and that is connected toterminal devices operated by the players via a communication line, theserver device comprising: an information storage unit that storesinformation on the game; and a control unit that accesses theinformation to execute an arithmetic operation relating to the game anddisplay an image of the game at the terminal devices. The methodcomprises: operating the information storage unit to store informationon a fighting event as a part of the information on the game; andoperating the control unit to, in accordance with an instruction from aplayer, display the information on the fighting event at a terminaldevice operated by the player.

A recording medium according to the invention disclosed herein can bereadable by a computer, the recording medium having stored thereon acomputer program to let the computer implement accessing information toexecute an arithmetic operation relating to a game and to display animage of the game at the terminal devices; and displaying, in accordancewith an instruction from a player, the information on the fighting eventat a terminal device operated by the player. The computer may provide agame, in which a plurality of players can participate and be connectedto terminal devices operated by the players via a communication line,and can access an information storage unit that stores information on afighting event as a part of information on the game.

A game system according to the invention disclosed herein comprises: aserver device that provides a game, in which a plurality of players canparticipate, and that is connected to terminal devices operated by theplayers via a communication line; and the terminal devices. The gamesystem comprises: an information storage unit that stores information onthe game; and a control unit that accesses the information to execute anarithmetic operation relating to the game and perform processing todisplay an image of the game at the terminal devices. The informationstorage unit stores, as a part of the information on the game,information on a fighting event, and the control unit performsprocessing to, in accordance with an instruction from a player, displaythe information on the fighting event at a terminal device operated bythe player.

Herein, the “player” refers to a user who operates a terminal device,which is a concept corresponding to a client of a client-server systemas well, and from the viewpoint of distinguishing it from a user of aserver device (a server administrator or the like), this is referred toas a “player”. A player typically can participate in a game through acharacter that acts, behaves, thinks and the like in a virtual gamespace or an appropriate game content that is associated with thecharacter (hereinafter this is called a “player character” incombination) instead of the player himself/herself. A “player” in thepresent disclosure mainly represents a player character strictly, andthis may be described simply as a “player” in the following. Amongcharacters and appropriate game media associated with the characters ina virtual game space, one that is not operated by a user may be referredto as a “non-player character (NPC)”.

A “group” may include a variously-elaborated virtual group having aplurality of members, such as a “guild”, a “party”, a “team” or a“community”, which is a general designation. Such a “group” may becreated or formed for each game title, or may be created or formed foreach platform, for example, as a common group or a shared group across aplurality of game titles. The present disclosure describes a “fightingevent” as a major event between groups, and the invention disclosedherein is not limited to this. For example, a “fighting event” may be anevent between a certain player, a non-player character or a group andanother player, another non-player character or another group. Herein, a“group” may be made up of a plurality of non-player characters insteadof a plurality of players, and a group may be made up of one or moreplayers and one or more non-player characters. A “fighting event” mayinclude a different type of event such as an exchange event betweengroups that is executed as a part of a social game in addition to afighting (battle) type event.

The server device, the method for controlling the same, the program andthe game system of the invention disclosed herein allow a player to beinformed of the attractiveness of a group fighting event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates (system block diagram) the structure ofa server device that is a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates (system configuration diagram) thestructure of a game system of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating one exemplary time table ofa game that is executed in the server device of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an exemplary configuration of a gamescreen in the game of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating one exemplary processing to support afighting event according to the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates one exemplary display during the processing tosupport a fighting event that is displayed on the game screen of aterminal device;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates an exemplary game screen during theprocessing to support a fighting event;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a part of one exemplary processing tobe performed when the fighting event ends according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the remaining part of the exemplaryprocessing of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 illustrates one exemplary method to deliver rewards according tothe invention; and

FIG. 11 illustrates one exemplary display of a bulletin-board that isdisplayed on the game screen of a terminal device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following describes embodiments of the invention in detail. Thefollowing embodiments illustrate the invention for description, and arenot intended to limit the invention to the embodiments only. Theinvention disclosed herein can be modified variously as long as its gistis not changed. A person skilled in the art can use embodiments that areobtained by replacing the following elements with their equivalents, andsuch embodiments also are included in the scope of the inventiondisclosed herein. The positional relationship such as vertical andhorizontal described as needed is based on the illustration of thedrawings unless otherwise designated. The ratios of the dimensions inthe drawings are not limited to the illustrated one. The followingexemplifies an embodiment of the invention disclosed herein by way of aninformation processing device for games for easy understanding, and theinvention is not limited to this as stated above.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates (system block diagram) the structure ofa server device that is a preferred embodiment of the inventiondisclosed herein. FIG. 2 schematically illustrates (system configurationdiagram) the structure of a game system that is a preferred embodimentof the invention disclosed herein. As illustrated in these drawings, aserver device 100 is a server computer that is connected to a network200, and implements a server function through the operation of apredetermined server program in the server computer. The server device100 and terminal devices 2 such as client computers 21 and mobileterminals 22 similarly connected to the network 200 in a wired orwireless manner are configured mutually-communicably, whereby a gamesystem 1 is configured.

The network 200 is a communication line or a communication networkrelating to information processing including the Internet, for example.The specific configuration thereof is not limited especially as long asit is configured so as to enable exchange of data between the serverdevice 100 and the terminal devices 2. For instance, the network 200 maycomprise a base station that is wirelessly connected to a terminaldevice 2, a mobile communication network connected to the base station,the Internet connected to the server device, and a gateway device thatconnects the mobile communication network and the Internet.

The server device 100 comprises an arithmetic processing unit 101 suchas a CPU or a MPU, a ROM 102 and a RAM 103 as storage devices, anexternal interface 104 connected to an input unit 105 and an externalmemory 106, an image processing unit 107 connected to a display monitor111, a slot drive 108 containing or connected to a disk, a memory deviceor the like, an audio processing unit 109 connected to a speaker device112, and a network interface 110, which are mutually connected via atransmission line 120 such as a system bas including an internal bas, anexternal bas, and an expansion bus. Devices for inputting/outputtingsuch as the input unit 105, the external memory 106, the display monitor111 and the speaker device 112 may be omitted as needed, and even whenthey are included, they may not be always connected to the transmissionline 120.

The arithmetic processing unit 101 controls the overall operation of theserver device 100, transmits/receives control signals and informationsignals (data) among the above-stated elements, and performs varioustypes of arithmetic processing that is necessary for execution of agame. To this end, the arithmetic processing unit 101 is configured tobe capable of performing, to a fast accessible storage area such as aregister, arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction,multiplication and division, logical operations such as logical OR,logical AND and logical NOT, and bit operations such as bitwise OR,bitwise AND, bit inversion, bit shift and bit rotation using anarithmetic logical unit as well as saturation calculation, trigonometricfunction calculation, vector calculation and the like as needed.

The ROM 102 contains an Initial Program Loader (IPL) recorded thereinthat is typically executed firstly after power activation. Following theexecution of this IPL, a server program and a game program recorded inthe disk or the memory device contained in or connected to the slotdrive 108 is once read by the arithmetic processing unit 101 in the RAM103, and such a program is executed by the arithmetic processing unit101. The ROM 102 further contains a program of the operating system thatis necessary for the overall operation control of the server device 100and other various types of data recorded therein.

The RAM 103 is to temporarily store a server program, a game program,and various types of data. The RAM 103 holds the server program and thegame program that are read as stated above and data necessary to advancea game or to establish a communication among a plurality of terminaldevices 2, for example. The arithmetic processing unit 101 sets therange of variables for the RAM 103 and directly performs arithmeticoperations using an arithmetic logical unit to values stored at therange of variables, or copies or moves the values stored in the RAM 103to a register once for storage, directly performs arithmetic operationsto the register and then writes the result of the operation back to theRAM 103.

The input unit 105 connected via the external interface 104 receivesvarious operations for inputting that a user (provider of a game) of theserver device 100 performs. The input unit 105 may comprise a keyboard,a touch pad or a touch panel as well as an audio input device, forexample, and the types of the devices are not limited especially as longas it enables various operations for inputting, decision operations,cancel operations, input of instructions such as menu display and thelike.

The RAM 103 and the external memory 106 that is connected detachably viathe external interface 104 store data indicating operation states of theserver device 100, access states of the terminal devices 2, and playstates and progressing states (historical record and the like) of a gameat each terminal device 2, a log (record) of communications among theterminal devices 2 and the like, which are stored in a rewritablemanner.

The image processing unit 107 records various types of data in a framememory or the like that are read from the slot drive 108 and aresubjected to processing by the arithmetic processing unit 101 or theimage processing unit 107 itself to be image information. Such imageinformation recorded in the frame memory is converted into a videosignal at a predetermined synchronizing timing, and is output to thedisplay monitor 111 connected to the image processing unit 107. Thisenables display of various types of images. Image information relatingto a game is sent out from the image processing unit 107 and/or thearithmetic processing unit 101 to each terminal device 2 by thecooperative processing with the arithmetic processing unit 101 and thelike.

The audio processing unit 109 converts various types of data read fromthe slot drive 108 into audio signals, and outputs it from the speakerdevice 112 connected to the audio processing unit 109. Audio information(sound effects and song information) relating to a game is sent out fromthe audio processing unit 109 and/or the arithmetic processing unit 101to each terminal device 2 by the cooperative processing with thearithmetic processing unit 101 and the like.

The network interface 110 is to connect the server device 100 to thenetwork 200. The network interface 110 comprises an interface complyingwith various standards used for the configuration of a LAN, modems suchas an analog modem, an ISDN modem, an ADSL modem and a cable model forconnection to the Internet or the like using a cable television line,and the interface for connection of them to the arithmetic processingunit 101 via the transmission line 120.

The following describes a game (social game) that is executed inaccordance with a game program of the invention disclosed herein in thethus configured game system 1 and server device 100. FIG. 3 is aconceptual diagram illustrating one exemplary time table of a game thatis executed in the server device 100. FIG. 4 schematically illustratesan exemplary configuration of a game screen in the social game of FIG.3.

Various types of processing (display of images and screens,determination, arithmetic operations and the like) in the followingprocedure are executed in accordance with a control instruction by thearithmetic processing unit 101 of the server device 100. That is, thearithmetic processing unit 101 functions as a “control unit” of theinvention disclosed herein. The aforementioned ROM 102, RAM 103 andexternal memory 106 as well as various storage media recordinginformation on the game therein correspond to an “information storageunit” of the invention disclosed herein.

This game comprises mutually different fighting events Ba1 and Ba2, andin the present embodiment, these fighting events Ba1 and Ba2 arecontinuously performed without interruption from 0 a.m. to 24 p.m. asshown in the temporal axis Yt in FIG. 3. The server device 100 is in astate capable of delivering these fighting events Ba1 and Ba2 to aterminal device 2 of a player in accordance with predetermined scheduleand time-series algorithm.

The player operates a terminal device 2 (e.g., a client computer 21 or amobile terminal 22 (tablet terminal, smartphone or the like)) to connectthe terminal device 2 to the server device 100 via the network 200 suchas the Internet. Then, the player operates the terminal device 2 toselect this game provided from the server device 100, or inputs logininformation such as an ID number or a password at a platform screenshown prior to the selection of the game. When the arithmetic processingunit 101 of the server device 100 recognizes the login information, theterminal device 2 displays a my-page screen or a my-home screen specificto the player that is associated with the ID number. In some types ofgames, the my-page screen displays a banner including the list of aplurality of scenes (e.g., location, dungeon, quest and the like) thatis set as a game scene. The scenes such as the location, the dungeon andthe quest may be or may not be in the form of hierarchy mutually or asindividual structures.

In the case of this game, the arithmetic processing unit 101 of theserver device 100 displays, on the my-page screen or the my-home screen,a menu screen relating to the aforementioned “guild” that is a group towhich individual players belong. A player who played the game before orhave experience of participating in the game basically belongs to oneguild, and information thereon is stored at an information storage unitsuch as the ROM 102 while being associated with specific informationsuch as the ID information of the player. Based on the information, thearithmetic processing unit 101 then displays information on the guild towhich the player belongs and an edit menu or the like relating to theguild as needed on the terminal device 2.

On the other hand, when the player plays the game for the first time orparticipates in the game for the first time or when the player wants toplay the game alone, the player does not belong to a specific guild.Then, the arithmetic processing unit 101 displays a menu screen on theterminal device 2 of the player who does not belong to a guild to letthe player to search for (retrieve) a guild or to create (establish) anew guild. The player operates the terminal device 2 in accordance withan instruction in a pull-down menu or the like that is successivelydisplayed from the menu screen and so can decide or create a guild toparticipate in.

After deciding or selecting a guild to which the player belongs, a listof a plurality of games and events is displayed on the terminal device 2as needed. When the player selects to participate in the game, thescreen of a game event that is being performed at that time is displayedon the terminal device 2 of the player. This allows the player to freelyparticipate in the game event that is being held at that time. At thistime, the terminal device 2 of the player may display a preparationscreen or an introduction screen of various types of game events, whichmay be a still image or a moving image (flash, for example).

As stated above, in one example shown in FIG. 3, the server device 100always executes any one of the fighting events Ba1 and Ba2. Forinstance, in the case where the login time to the game is any one offrom 0 a.m. to 6 a.m., from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (noon), from 1 p.m. to 6p.m., from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and from 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. (0 a.m. in thenext date), fighting event Ba1 is held in this game community. In thecase where the login time to the game is any one of from 6 a.m. to 9a.m., from 12 a.m. to 1 p.m., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and from 10 p.m. to11 p.m., fighting event Ba2 is held in this game community. In this way,the arithmetic processing unit 101 is configured to execute theprocessing of the fighting event Ba1 or Ba2 to be held in accordancewith the predetermined schedule.

Between these fighting events Ba1 and Ba2, the fighting event Ba1 is araid battle, i.e., a battle between guild G1 (group) to which the playerbelongs and a raid as an enemy player character (corresponding to theaforementioned GvR). On the other hand, the fighting event Ba2 is aguild battle, i.e., a battle between guilds G1 and G2 to which playersbelong (corresponding to the aforementioned GvG).

Referring to FIG. 4, one example of the fighting event Ba2 (GvG; guildbattle) at the starting of the execution that is displayed on theterminal device 2 of each player is described below. The processingprocedure of this fighting battle Ba2 (this may be called a quest, aturn or the like depending on game titles: the same applies to thefighting event Ba1) begins with defining an event field F and a pallet Pas display areas of the game image on a screen 2 a of the terminaldevice 2 and displaying elements thereof at these display areas.

Specifically player characters A1 to A5 belonging to guild G1 and playercharacters B1 to B5 belonging to guild G2 are displayed as a part of theelements. That is, in this case, an area where player characters A1 toA5 belonging to guild G1 are displayed (main field of guild G1) and anarea where player characters B1 to B5 belonging to guild G2 aredisplayed (main field of guild G2) are mainly defined at the event fieldF. Then player characters A1 to A5 belonging to guild G1 and playercharacters B1 to B5 belonging to guild G2 each join together to fight adirect battle with opponent player characters of the opponent guilds.

The main fields of guilds G1 and G2 are made up of sub-fields G1 f andG1 b and sub-fields G2 f and G2 b, respectively, which are surroundedwith dot-and-dash lines in the drawing. In this embodiment, among playercharacters A1 to A5 belonging to guild G1, three player characters A1 toA3 are arranged at sub-field G1 f as forward players and the otherplayer characters A4 and A5 are arranged at the sub-field G1 b as backplayers based on the values of parameters (see FIG. 5) set for theplayer characters A1 to A5. Similarly, among player characters B1 to B5belonging to guild G2, three player characters B1 to B3 are arranged atsub-field G2 f as forward players and the other player characters B4 andB5 are arranged at the sub-field G2 b as back players based on thevalues of parameters set for the player characters B1 to B5.

The game is configured so that, for both of the above guilds G1 and G2,the player characters as forward players only receive a damage by anattack from the opponent player characters, and both of the forward andback player characters can participate in attacks.

In the form of the fighting at this fighting event Ba2, the screen 2 aof each terminal device 2 of player characters A1 to A5 in guild G1shows pallet P. This pallet P is a place where each player character A1to A5 and B1 to B5 in guilds G1 and G2 decides their “weapons” (normalweapons and special weapons) by random drawing that can be used forattacking of opponent player characters B1 to B5 and A1 to A5 as theirelements. This pallet P displays a deck D that is a virtual bundle ofcards and a plurality of cards (game media) selected from the deck D.

Each card includes a type of the “weapon” or a player characterrepresenting it, and a specific item, illustration and letters relatingto the weapon that are drawn or described thereon. Each card containsinformation set therefor, including the weapon, the attack rate (a pointof the weapon or activated action; action point (AP) or weapon point(weapon P)), the defense rate (this may be health or hit point (HP)),attributes (e.g., colors such as red, green and blue and forms such asfire, water, trees and light), the degree of rareness (rarity) and thelike. When the player turns over the cards one by one from the deck Dand if three cards 31, 32 and 33 displayed have only one type, attributeor the degree of rareness or have a specific combination (pat), theeffect such as increasing the attack power and the defense power ofplayer A1 to A5 will be activated. Then, the weapon that is to beactivated by the selection or the combination of cards 31, 32 and 33 ortheir related items being executed 401 and 402 are displayed below theplayer characters A1 to A5 and B1 to B5, respectively, at the eventfield F.

In the state where the three cards 31, 32 and 33 are displayed at thepallet P, when the player further turns over a card from the deck D,then any one of the cards 31, 32 and 33 (e.g., the card 31 on the leftin the drawing) will be removed from the screen 2 a, and the newlyselected card will be displayed. At this time, the display may beadapted so that the card 31 to be deleted is slid out to the outside ofthe pallet P, for example, the remaining cards 32 and 33 are slid to theleft, and the new card is slid into the empty space.

When each player character A1 to A5 in guild G1 selects (turns over)cards one by one from the deck D at the pallet P, a damage done to theopponent and a damage that the player receives can be calculated inaccordance with the combination of the weapons, attack rates, specificitems and defense rates as well as their attributes, degrees of rarenessand the like set for the cards 31, 32 and 33 when the player attacksplayer characters B1 to B3 of the opponent guild G2. On the other hand,a similar display is shown on the screen 2 a of each terminal device 2of player characters B1 to B5 of guild G2 as well, and they attackplayer characters A1 to A3 of the opponent guild G1.

HP gauges 61 and 62 for guilds G1 and G2 are displayed above the mainfield of guilds G1 and G2, respectively. Then the number of times playercharacter A1 to A5, B1 to B5 attacks their opponent player characterscontinuously (the number of combos) before receiving an attack from theopponent player characters B1 to B5, A1 to A5 is displayed as combogauges Cm1 and Cm2 in the vicinity of the HP gauges 61 and 62,respectively. When the number of combos displayed in these combo gaugesCm1 and Cm2 reaches a predetermined value or more, the power of a weaponused for the opponent player characters B1 to B5, A1 to A5 by playercharacter A1 to A5, B1 to B5 is enhanced, whereby a damage to be done tothe opponent player characters increases. Then, the winner or the loserwill be determined based on the values of the HP gauges 61 and 62 at theending time of the fighting.

As stated above, the players belong to guilds G1 and G2, for example, inprinciple to execute fighting events Ba1 and Ba2. On the other hand, thefollowing exemplifies the case where player C1 who does not belong toany guild (hereinafter called a not-belonging player) watches a fightingevent Ba2 and then participates in fighting event Ba2 based on thescreen display observed. Such a not-belonging player C1 is allowed toparticipate in fighting event Ba2 under a certain constraint. Thecertain constraint may be added to the behavior at fighting event Ba2 ormay be added to rewards that the player can obtain after fighting eventBa2 ends. Specifically, the certain constraint of the present embodimentis to limit the behavior so that the player is allowed to act as a backplayer only at fighting event Ba2 and is not allowed to support theattacks, and is to limit the rewards given to the player compared withplayers belonging to the guild (the details are described later). Thecertain constraint is not limited to this, and other any limitations maybe set. Although the present embodiment describes the case of adding acertain constraint, such a certain constraint may not be provided withina certain period, for example, to allow the not-belonging player C1 toenjoy the fighting event Ba2 similarly to other player characters.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating one exemplary processing to support(participate in) fighting event Ba2. This processing starts when thenot-belonging player C1 operates the terminal device 2 to switch thedisplay from the top screen to the my-home screen to provide the presentgame, and to input through a watch button (not illustrated) to watchfighting event Ba2, for example.

Firstly the arithmetic processing unit 101 selects fighting event Ba2among a plurality of fighting events Ba2 being currently executed thatis to be displayed on the terminal device 2 (ST501). In the presentembodiment, letting that the not-belonging player C1 manipulates aplayer character at a certain level (first level), this selection isperformed at random from fighting events Ba2 that are at a level (secondlevel: the average of levels of the player characters in opposed guildsis within a predetermined range relative to a first level) that is closeto the first level. If any fighting event Ba2 is not executed, an errorwill be displayed at the terminal device 2.

When a fighting event Ba2 is selected as stated above, then thearithmetic processing unit 101 performs processing to display thefighting event Ba2 at the terminal device 2 (ST502). For instance, theterminal device 2 displays, as information on the fighting event Ba2, afighting event between guilds G1 and G2 as described referring to FIG.4, and displays a banner to describe information on the fighting eventBa2 in details.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the following describes one example of thebanner display 70. The banner display 70 is to display information onthe name of fighting event “fighting event Ba2”, duration of thefighting event “MM1/DD1/hh1.mm1-MM2/DD2/hh2.mm2”, the names of fightingguilds “guild G1” and “guild G2”, the names of player characters of bothof guilds G1 and G2 and their parameters “player characters A1” to“player character A5” and “player character B1” to “player characterB5”. All of the player characters displayed on the banner display 70 canbe checked by scrolling the display. The banner display 70 furtherdisplays a “search for other fighting” button 71 to display otherfighting event Ba2, “support this guild” buttons 72 and 73, which aredisplayed at areas of guilds G1 and G2, respectively, to support thecorresponding guilds, a “home” button 74 to return to the my-homescreen, and a “menu” button 75 to display a menu to execute varioustypes of processing. The not-belonging player C1 sees the banner display70 and is allowed to visually check information on the player charactersbelonging to both of the guilds G1 and G2 to perform the fighting eventsBa2.

For instance, when the not-belonging player C1 presses the “menu” button75, a menu is displayed. When the not-belonging player C1 then inputs ata certain button, then detailed information on the total power of theoverall guild of each of guilds G1 and G2 is displayed. Herein, thetotal power of the overall guild includes, for example, an attack power,a defense power, health, skills that the overall guild has, theexistence of players, battle records (battle record of today, battlerecord of one week, battle record of one month and battle record of oneyear), the number of beaten bosses, the level of the boss that is beatenthe most recently, a time period to beat the boss, attributes of thebeaten boss and the like. Together with or separately from the displayof them, an incentive as a point that will be given to players belongingto a guild (the details will be described later referring to FIG. 10)also can be displayed. Then the not-belonging player C1 can decide towhich guild he/she is to support (participate in) favorably at thefighting event Ba2 based on the displayed information on the total powerof the guilds. The display of an incentive allows the not-belongingplayer C1 to visually understand a big advantage that can be obtained bybelonging to a guild. The present embodiment describes the case wherethe banner display 70 mainly displays information on the individualplayer characters by default, and displays the information on the totalpower of the overall guilds and incentives via a menu, and the inventiondisclosed herein is not limited to this. For instance, by default thebanner display 70 may display the detailed information on the totalpower of the overall guilds and incentives, and may display informationon the individual player characters via a menu.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the processing continues as follows. Thearithmetic processing unit 101 performs the following processing inresponse to inputs at various buttons displayed on the banner display70.

The arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not to displayother fighting event Ba2 based on whether input is performed or not atthe “search for other fighting” button 71 (ST503). When it is determinedthat other fighting event Ba2 is to be displayed (ST503: YES), theprocedure returns to Step S501, where other fighting event Ba2 isselected from the aforementioned predetermined range (ST501), and theterminal device 2 displays information on the other fighting event Ba2(ST502).

Then the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not todisplay a menu based on whether input is performed or not at the “menu”button 75 (ST504). When it is determined that a menu is to be displayed(ST504: YES), the arithmetic processing unit 101 displays a menu andperforms processing based on an instruction on the menu, for example(ST505). Next, the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whetherinput is performed or not at an end button (not illustrated). When it isdetermined that input is performed at the end button (ST506: YES), thearithmetic processing unit 101 closes the menu (ST507).

Then the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not tomake player C1 support a fighting displayed on the terminal devices 2based on whether input is performed or not at the “support this guild”buttons 72 and 73 (ST508). When input is performed at the “support thisguild” button 72, the arithmetic processing unit 101 performs processingto make the player C1 support (participate in) the guild G1.Alternatively, when input is performed at the “support this guild”button 73, the arithmetic processing unit 101 performs processing tomake the player C1 support (participate in) the guild G2. Then thearithmetic processing unit 101 displays a player character of the playerC1 as a back player of the fighting event Ba2 to allow the player toparticipate in the fighting event Ba2 as a back player, thus ending thesupporting processing and closing the banner display 70. This candisplay the player character of the player C1 at the sub-field G1 b ofthe guild G1 of the fighting event Ba2, for example, to attack theplayer characters of the guild G2 and so to support the guild G1.

Then the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether input isperformed at the “home” button 74 or not (ST509). When it is determinedthat input is performed at the “home” button 74 (ST510: YES), thearithmetic processing unit 101 switches the display of the terminaldevice 2 into the my-home screen (ST511), and ends this processing.

Next, the following describes the processing to be performed when thefighting event Ba2 ends. FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts to illustrate oneexemplary processing to be performed at the end of the fighting eventBa2.

The arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether the fighting endsor not during the fighting event processing (ST601) of the fightingevent Ba2 (ST602). Since the duration to hold the fighting event Ba2 isset as stated above, the arithmetic processing unit 101 makes thisdetermination based on whether it is a time for the ending time of thefighting event Ba2 or not. This determination can be said adetermination whether the winner or loser of the fighting event Ba2 isdecided or not.

When it is determined that the fighting event processing ends (ST602:YES), the arithmetic processing unit 101 performs rewarding processing(ST603). The rewarding processing of the present embodiment is todeliver rewards as points to each of the player characters A1 to A5, B1to B5 and C1 who participated in the fighting event Ba2. Rewards includea basic point, to which an incentive is additionally given in accordancewith a certain rule. As illustrated in an incentive setting table T1 ofFIG. 10, the following incentives are given to the players, for example,i.e., a basic point +30% will be given to a player character belongingto a guild, a basic point +50% will be given to a player characterbelonging to the guild that won in the fighting, and a basic point +20%will be given to a player character that is arranged as a forward playerat the time of the fighting ending. Specifically a player characterbelonging to the guild that won in the fighting and being arranged as aforward player will receive a basic point +100% (i.e., basic point 0.2).On the other hand, a player character (player C1) that does not belongto a guild and being arranged as a back player of the guild that won inthe fighting will receive basic point +50% (i.e., basic point −1.5).When the guild, to which the player C1 participated in for supporting,loses, the player C1 will receive the basic point only. In this way, itis set so that the player C1 who does not belong to a guild andparticipates in a guild for supporting as a back player will receive anincentive only when the guild wins in the fighting, and a playercharacter who belongs to a guild will receive more points.

When the delivery of rewards ends as stated above, the arithmeticprocessing unit 101 performs bulletin-board displaying processing(ST604). A bulletin-board is provided for a communication betweenplayers who participate in the fighting event Ba2, and is provided foreach fighting event (guild battle). A bulletin-board provided for eachfighting event is configured to be accessible by each player whoparticipated in the fighting event during duration (from 9 a.m. to 12a.m.) from the end of the fighting event Ba2 (from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.) tothe starting of the next fighting event Ba2 (from 12 a.m. to 1 p.m.) viatheir terminal devices 2.

FIG. 11 illustrates one example of the bulletin-board (hereinafter thismay be called a banner display) 80 displayed at the terminal device 2.The banner display 80 displays information on the name of fighting event“fighting event Ba2”, duration of the fighting event“MM1/DD1/hh1.mm1-MM2/DD2/hh2.mm2”, the names of fighting guilds “guildG1” and “guild G2”, messages 81 from players who participated in thefighting event, the names of player characters of both of the guilds G1and G2, and their parameters “player characters A1” to “player characterA5” and “player character B1” to “player character B5”. All of thecontents of messages and the parameters of the player charactersdisplayed on the banner display 80 can be checked by scrolling thedisplay. The banner display 80 further displays a “writing” button 82for writing of a message, an “apply for participation in guild” button83 to apply for participation in a guild, a “home” button 84 to returnto the my-home screen, and a “menu” button 85 to display a menu toexecute various types of processing. Similarly to the above-mentionedbanner display 70, the bulletin-board 80 also is configured so as todisplay the information on the total power of the overall guilds of theguilds G1 and G2 and incentives via a menu that is displayed by pressingthe “menu” button 85, and alternatively the bulletin-board 80 maydisplay the detailed information on the total power of the overallguilds and incentives by default and may display information on theindividual player characters via a menu.

Referring back to FIG. 8, the following describes the processing again.The arithmetic processing unit 101 performs the following processing inresponse to input at various buttons.

The arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not to displaya banner, i.e., whether a message is to be written at the bulletin-board80 or not based on whether input is performed or not at the “writing”button (ST605). When it is determined as writing (ST605: YES), thearithmetic processing unit 101 accepts the writing for inputting fromeach player at their terminal devices 2 (ST606). Then the arithmeticprocessing unit 101 adds information on the writing based on theaccepted contents of the writing and updates the message 81 on thebulletin-board 80 (ST607).

Then the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not todisplay a menu based on whether the “menu” button 85 is input or not(ST608), and executes processing based on the menu display (ST609 toST611). Since the processing from Step ST608 to ST611 is similar to theprocessing from Step ST504 to ST507 of FIG. 5 as stated above, theirdetailed descriptions are omitted.

Then the arithmetic processing unit 101 determines whether or not toperform participation (belonging) processing to a guild based on whetherthe “apply for participation in guild” button 83 is input or not(ST612). When it is determined to perform the participation processingto a guild (ST612: YES), the arithmetic processing unit 101 performs theparticipation (belonging) processing to a guild (ST613). Specifically,the arithmetic processing unit 101 displays a screen as a popup toinquire the terminal device 2 operated by the player C1 as theorigination of the application about in which guild he/she wants toparticipate, for example. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 101understands the guild that the player C1 applies for participation basedon the input to the popup display, and performs processing to allow theplayer character of the player C1 to belong to the guild. When theplayer C1 participates in the guild, terminal devices 2 of other playersof the guild may be informed as such.

The arithmetic processing unit 101 further determines whether input isperformed or not at the “home” button 84 (ST614). When it is determinedthat input is performed at the “home” button 84 (ST614: YES), thearithmetic processing unit 101 switches the display of the terminaldevice 2 to the home screen (ST615), and ends this processing.

The thus configured server device 100, method for controlling the same,computer-readable recording medium having stored thereon a game program,and game system 1 allow the player C1 to watch fighting event Ba2between guilds G1 and G2, and so diversity can be added to enjoymentbrought by participating in the game, and the player C1 can be informedof the attractiveness of the group fighting event.

If the player C1 wants to support any one of the guilds G1 and G2 at thefighting event Ba2 that he/she watches, input may be performed at the“support this guild” buttons 72 and 73 that are displayed at the bannerdisplay 70, whereby the player C1 can participate in the fighting eventBa2 (support one of the guilds). This allows the player C1 to experiencethe fighting event Ba2, and when supporting the guild G1, he/she canactually experience the enjoyment brought by fighting the guild G2together with other player characters A1 to A5.

After the fighting event Ba2 ends, the bulletin-board 80 is displayedfor each fighting (guild battle) at the terminal devices 2 of theplayers who participated in the fighting event Ba2. Using thisbulletin-board 80, the players fighting together can communicate witheach other, and so the players belonging to the guilds G1 and G2 cansolicit the not-belonging player C1 to their guilds, for example.Through such a communication, the player C1 can be informed of theattractiveness of the group fighting event.

The above embodiment describes the case where the player C1 who does notbelong to the guild supports the guild G1, and the invention disclosedherein is not limited to this. For instance, the player who belongs to aguild may watch (display) a fighting event Ba2 of another guild.

The above embodiment describes the case where any limitation is notplaced on the number of players who can participate in the fightingevent Ba2 for supporting, and as the average value of the levels of theplayer characters who participate in the fighting event Ba2 increases,limitation may be placed so as to decrease the number of players who areallowed to participate therein for supporting. For instance, it may beset so that the number of players who can participate in for supportingis three when the average value of the levels is at the levels 1 to 10,two at the levels of 11 to 20 and only one at the levels of 21 to 30,and no one is allowed to support at the levels of 31 or more. It isbetter to place such limitation in the number of players, because, inthe case of a fighting event, it is not preferable for a player who isunfamiliar with the game to participate in the game performed at ahigher level.

As stated above, the invention disclosed herein is not limited to theabove embodiment and the already-described modified examples, and may bemodified variously as long as its gist is not changed. For instance, theconfiguration of the server device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may beapplied to the client computers 21 and the mobile terminals 22 as theterminal devices 2 as well, which are different in ability in processingor the like. In other words, a client computer 21 or a mobile terminal22 may be used as the server device 100. That is, any computer that isconnected via the network 200 may function as the server device.

The server device 100 may comprise a mass-storage device such as a harddisk or a SSD, which is configured so as to fulfill the functionssimilar to the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the external memory 106, a memorydevice loaded in the slot drive 108 and the like. Such a storage devicemay or may not have a redundant architecture using RAID or the like.This may not be connected to the arithmetic processing unit 101 via thetransmission line 120, and may be connected to another external devicevia the network 200 as a part of cloud computing, for example.

A network interface at the server device 100 and the terminal devices 2may be a wireless LAN device or a wired LAN device, which may beinstalled internally or may be of an external device type such as a LANcard. The terminal devices 2 may be a game console that can be connectedto the network 200 or may be an online karaoke device, for example.

As described above, the server device, the method for controlling thesame, the computer-readable recording medium and the game system of theinvention disclosed herein can greatly improve the amusement, theattractiveness and the variety, and so can promote activation of afighting event and accordingly general games, and can develop thefeeling of a player to participate in or continue the game. In this way,the invention disclosed herein can be used widely and effectively forgeneral games that are delivered, provided and executed especially inthe server-client type network configuration (especially includingelements of a social game), general techniques relating to software andhardware for the delivery, provision and execution of the games, and theactions of their designing, manufacturing, sales and the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server device that provides a game, in which aplurality of players can participate, and that is connected to terminaldevices operated by the players via a communication line, comprising: aninformation storage unit; and a control unit that accesses theinformation storage unit to perform processing to display an image ofthe game at the terminal devices, wherein the information storage unitstores information on a group fighting event of the game, the controlunit performs processing to provide a group fighting event such that afirst group, a second group, and one or more participants who do notbelong to a group that is engaged in the group fighting eventparticipate in the group fighting event, wherein the group fightingevent further includes at least one watcher who does not fight during atleast one portion of the group fighting event; wherein the groupfighting event comprises selecting a plurality of game media from arandom set of game media; determining if the plurality of game mediasatisfies at least one criterion in the set of: a type match, anattribute match, a degree of rareness match, or a combination match;and, when the plurality of game media satisfies the at least onecriterion, activating an effect for a battle phase of the group fightingevent.
 2. The server device according to claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of game media is a card.
 3. The server device according toclaim 2, wherein each of the plurality of game media corresponds to aweapon usable within the game and at least one weapon characteristic. 4.The server device according to claim 3, wherein the at least one weaponcharacteristic is at least one of the set of: an attack rate of theweapon, a defense rate of the weapon, a weapon attribute, and a degreeof rareness of the weapon.
 5. The server device according to claim 1,wherein activating the effect for the battle phase of the group fightingevent comprises activating one of a plurality of effects based on thesatisfied at least one criterion.
 6. The server device according toclaim 5, wherein each of the plurality of effects is an augmentation ofat least one character of a player in the group fighting event.
 7. Theserver device according to claim 1, wherein the group fighting eventfurther comprises: maintaining the plurality of game media on a screenof at least one of the first group and the second group; and performinga draw step comprising removing exactly one of the plurality of gamemedia from the screen of the at least one of the first group and thesecond group, and replacing a removed game medium with a new gamemedium.
 8. The server device according to claim 7, wherein determiningif the plurality of game media satisfies the at least one criterion istriggered after the draw step.
 9. The server device according to claim1, wherein the group fighting event comprises providing a plurality ofplayer characters on a game field, the plurality of player characterscomprising a plurality of first group player characters and a pluralityof second group player characters.
 10. The server device according toclaim 9, wherein the plurality of player characters comprises aplurality of front player characters and a plurality of back playercharacters, wherein each of the plurality of first group playercharacters and the plurality of second group player characters comprisesat least one front player character and at least one back playercharacter; and wherein the control unit performs processing to preventthe plurality of players from designating the plurality of back playercharacters as attack targets.
 11. The server device according to claim10, wherein the control unit performs processing to receive aninstruction from a participant in the one or more participants toparticipate in the group battle event, and assign a player character ofthe participant to one of the first group or the second group as a backplayer character.
 12. The server device according to claim 11, whereinthe control unit imposes a gameplay restriction on the participant. 13.The server device according to claim 12, wherein the control unit limitsthe player character of the participant to performing attacks.
 14. Theserver device according to claim 12, wherein the control unit restrictsa draw step to members of the first group and members of the secondgroup.
 15. The server device according to claim 11, wherein the controlunit provides a player-specific menu to the participant.
 16. The serverdevice according to claim 1, wherein the group fighting event isperformed in real time over a predetermined time period, and wherein thecontrol unit continuously tracks attacks executed by player charactersin the first group against player characters in the second group andattacks executed by player characters in the second group against playercharacters in the first group over the predetermined time period. 17.The server device according to claim 16, wherein each of the first groupand the second group performs a draw step at a predetermined time withinthe predetermined time period.
 18. The server device according to claim16, wherein the control unit continuously tracks combinations of attacksperformed by player characters, and augments at least one playercharacter when a number of combinations of attacks reaches or exceeds apredetermined value.
 19. A method for controlling a server device thatprovides a game, in which a plurality of players can participate, andthat is connected to terminal devices operated by the players via acommunication line, the server device comprising an information storageunit, and a control unit that accesses the information storage unit toperform processing to display an image of the game at the terminaldevices, the method comprising: accessing the information storage unitto store information on a group fighting event of the game involving atleast a first group and a second group, operating the control unit toperform processing to provide a group fighting event such that the firstgroup, the second group, and one or more participants who do not belongto a group that is engaged in the group fighting event participate inthe group fighting event, wherein the group fighting event furtherincludes at least one watcher who does not fight during at least oneportion of the group fighting event; during the group fighting event,receiving a selection of a plurality of game media from a random set ofgame media; determining if the plurality of game media satisfies atleast one criterion in the set of: a type match, an attribute match, adegree of rareness match, or a combination match; and when the pluralityof game media satisfies the at least one criterion, activating an effectfor a battle phase of the group fighting event.
 20. A non-transitoryrecording medium that provides a game, in which a plurality of playerscan participate, that is connected to terminal devices operated by theplayers via a communication line, and that can access an informationstorage unit that stores information on a group fighting event of thegame involving at least a first group and a second group, the recordingmedium having stored thereon a computer program to configure thecomputer to: access the information storage unit to store information ona group fighting event of the game involving at least a first group anda second group, operate the control unit to perform processing toprovide a group fighting event such that the first group, the secondgroup, and one or more participants who do not belong to a group that isengaged in the group fighting event participate in the group fightingevent, wherein the group fighting event further includes at least onewatcher who does not fight during at least one portion of the groupfighting event; during the group fighting event, receive a selection ofa plurality of game media from a random set of game media; determine ifthe plurality of game media satisfies at least one criterion in the setof: a type match, an attribute match, a degree of rareness match, or acombination match; and when the plurality of game media satisfies the atleast one criterion, activate an effect for a battle phase of the groupfighting event.